Credit: American Home Water & Air (CC BY-NC 4.0)
A window air conditioner that can't keep up with the heat turns a bedroom into a sauna by midnight. The wrong size for the room makes that problem worse, no matter how good the unit is on paper.
Consumer Reports tested window units built for small, midsized and large rooms on cooling comfort, noise and brownout resistance, so shoppers can find a fit for their space.
1 / 9
Credit: LG
The LG LW6023IVSM costs $380 and cools rooms between 100 and 250 square feet. Consumer Reports rated its cooling comfort excellent, finding it reached the set temperature with ease and held it steady afterward. CR also praised how quiet it ran on low, noting it stayed nearly as quiet on high, and confirmed it bounced back reliably from simulated brownouts. CR member surveys show LG's window units score at the top of the field for predicted reliability, with owner satisfaction not far behind at a very good level.
2 / 9
Credit: Soleus Air
The Soleus Air WS3-06E-201 costs $480 and cools rooms between 100 and 250 square feet using an upside-down U shape that drapes over a windowsill. Consumer Reports rated its cooling comfort very good and found it simple to operate despite the unusual design, with the lower profile blocking noticeably less natural light than a standard unit. CR noted it ran very quietly on low and nearly as quietly on high, though the shape isn't compatible with every window configuration, particularly older homes with a radiator beneath the window. CR doesn't have enough data on Soleus Air to rate the brand's predicted reliability.
3 / 9
Credit: Amazon
The Black+Decker BD06WT6 costs $220 and cools rooms between 100 and 250 square feet, making it a compact, no-frills option for a bedroom or home office. Consumer Reports rated its cooling comfort as just fair and found it relatively quiet on low but only average on high. CR was impressed by its dependability, noting it kept running and restarted reliably through simulated extreme heat and voltage dips during brownout testing, with controls that stayed clearly labeled and easy to use on both the unit and its remote. CR doesn't have enough data on Black+Decker to rate the brand's predicted reliability.
4 / 9
Credit: LG
The LG LW8024IVSM costs $420 and cools rooms between 250 and 350 square feet, earning a higher overall score than every other window air conditioner Consumer Reports tested. CR rated its cooling comfort excellent and gave it top or near-top marks in nearly every other category, though ease of use scored a bit lower due to its weight of more than 80 pounds, heavier than many units in the 10,000- to 12,000-Btu range. CR noted it uses a conventional chassis instead of the U-shaped designs common among other midsized units in this lineup, and it actually outputs 8,500 Btu despite being grouped with 8,000-Btu models. CR member surveys place LG's window units at the top of the field for predicted reliability, with a very good showing for owner satisfaction as well.
5 / 9
Credit: Midea
The Midea MAW08V1YWT-S costs $250 and cools rooms between 250 and 350 square feet. Consumer Reports rated its cooling comfort excellent, finding it held the set temperature steadily, and praised how quiet it ran on low while staying reasonable even on high. CR confirmed it passed brownout testing without issue and found the controls intuitive enough to skip the manual, and noted the inverter design adjusts output to match the room's needs for added efficiency. Midea's window units lead every brand CR tracks on both predicted reliability and owner satisfaction, according to CR member surveys.
6 / 9
Credit: Amazon
The Frigidaire Gallery GHWW085TE1 costs $469 and cools rooms between 250 and 350 square feet, matching the top performers in its size class on cooling comfort. Consumer Reports found it held the set temperature steadily and rated it very quiet on low with only slightly more noise on high. CR confirmed it passed brownout testing without a hitch and rated the controls easy to navigate, noting the inverter design comes with WiFi, a remote and conveniences such as a filter alert and a mode that saves energy. Frigidaire earned good marks for predicted reliability in CR member surveys, though owner satisfaction landed in the middle of the pack, and its one-year warranty runs shorter than competing models in this lineup.
7 / 9
Credit: LG
The LG LW1224IVSM costs $530 and cools rooms between 350 and 550 square feet, delivering excellent cooling performance and top or near-top marks in nearly every other category Consumer Reports tracks. CR found its ease-of-use score came in a bit lower, not because the controls are confusing but because the unit weighs more than 80 pounds, heavier and bulkier than many competing 10,000- to 12,000-Btu models. CR also noted this LG uses a conventional chassis instead of the U-shaped and inverted-U designs found on other midsized and large units in this lineup. LG's window units land at the top of CR member surveys for predicted reliability, with owner satisfaction close behind at a very good level.
8 / 9
Credit: Amazon
The Frigidaire Gallery GHWW125TE1 costs $549 and packs 12,000 Btu of cooling for rooms between 350 and 550 square feet into a comparatively compact frame. Consumer Reports rated its cooling comfort excellent, finding it held the set temperature steadily, and praised how quiet it ran on low while staying reasonable on high. CR confirmed it passed brownout testing without issue and rated the controls straightforward, noting the inverter design includes WiFi, a remote and conveniences such as a filter alert and an energy-saving setting, though its directional airflow skews to one side and is worth planning around in a room layout. Frigidaire earned good marks for predicted reliability in CR member surveys, though owner satisfaction came back middling, and its warranty runs just one year.
9 / 9
Credit: Frigidaire
The Frigidaire Gallery GHWQ103WC1 costs $528 and delivers 10,000 Btu of cooling suited to rooms between 350 and 550 square feet. Consumer Reports rated its cooling comfort excellent, finding it cooled quickly and held the set temperature without wavering, and praised how quiet it ran on low while keeping noise reasonable even on high. CR confirmed the controls were easy to navigate, whether operated directly on the unit or through its app and remote features, and found it performed flawlessly during brownout testing. Frigidaire earned strong marks for predicted reliability in CR member surveys, rounding out a well-balanced performance across cooling, quiet operation and ease of use.
